1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for preventing or relieving motion sickness. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing sensory signals corresponding to a property (e.g., position or motion) of an object so the individual may use these signals to improve a sense of equilibrium. The present invention also relates to a Motion Obfuscation Device (MOD) for obscuring motion sickness conflicting signals to improve a sense of equilibrium of the individual.
2. Discussion of the Background
Essentially, motion sickness occurs as a result of an unusual motion experience. Until a person can adapt to these unusual motions, motion sickness can occur. The phenomenon of motion sickness may be derived from a principle researched by Dr. David Winters, a retired University of Waterloo professor, and which is referred to as xe2x80x9cThe Principle of Indeterminacy.xe2x80x9d
The principle of indeterminacy describes a human""s natural ability to identify changes in the neuromuscular skeletal system and to adapt to a new optimum motion. For example, if a prosthetic leg does not offer comparable function, an amputee will favor the remaining leg. Thus, the residual limb becomes weaker and the remaining leg becomes stronger. The option to utilize the prosthesis or the natural leg represents a conflict, i.e., between walking in a conventional symmetrical manner or favoring the natural leg. The person, without conscious volition, chooses favoring the natural side when the choice is perceived by the human""s body as optimal. Currently, it is not known for certain which senses are most influential in making this choice. However, it is likely that pain and comfort, proprioceptive, vestibular, and ocular inputs affect this choice.
Similarly, motion sickness results from a conflict between these vestibular, ocular and proprioceptive inputs. For example, conventional wisdom among charter boat operators is charter boat captains do not get seasick, unless they spend a significant amount of time below deck, whereas captains of cruise ships are known to be somewhat more susceptible to motion sickness. This is because a charter boat captain usually sits high in the cabin, a position from where he can observe quite clearly what the relatively small charter boat is about to experience. Thus, he has accurate visual data which reconciles a conflict between the vestibular, ocular, and proprioceptive inputs. On the contrary, the captain of a large cruise ship cannot see what is taking place immediately in front of the ship""s bow. Thus, a conflict between the vestibular, ocular, and proprioceptive data is not resolved.
Motion sickness is very costly for many industries. For example, the airline industry loses millions of dollars per year from passengers who are unwilling to travel because they experience motion sickness. The same can be said for cruise ships. In addition, if a person experiences motion sickness while operating a dangerous vehicle, injury or even a loss of life may occur.
Thus, a need for a device which relieves or prevents motion sickness will have a significant impact on society. The co-pending applications Ser. No. 09/121,720 and Ser. No. 09/263,777, describe an apparatus for relieving motion sickness which includes a sensor which senses a motion of an object and a sensory converter coupled to the sensor for converting the sensed motion to corresponding sensory signals having a variation in spectral emphasis in proportion to the sensed motion. Also included is a presentation mechanism for presenting the sensory signals to the user. Thus, a user may use the converted sensory signals to resolve a conflict between vestibular, ocular, and preoceptive inputs. After further research and experimentation, the inventor of this application, which is the same as the inventor in the co-pending applications, has discovered additional novel features which will be described in the present application.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus and method for relieving motion sickness.
Another object of the present invention is to relieve motion sickness by presenting a user with an audio signal (e.g., white noise) that obfuscates conflicting signals from the inner ear.
Yet another object of the present invention is to relieve motion sickness by presenting a user with exaggerated signals corresponding to sensed properties of an object.
Another object of the present invention is to relieve motion sickness which may occur during video games including virtual reality games.
Still another object of the present invention is to relieve motion sickness by presenting a user with at least one signal including, for example, audio, visual, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, or combinations thereof which have a variation related to a sensed property of an object, so that the user may resolve a conflict between vestibular, ocular, and proprioceptive inputs. The object whose property is sensed may be a vessel the user is in or on, for example, or it may the user. The object may be referenced to the vessel, or be referenced to an arbitrary reference point. For an audible signal, the information may be presented in the form of a modulated noise or pseudo-noise, where the modulation includes, for example, a variation in a bandwidth, a center frequency, and an amplitude of a first range of the sensory signals. Visual display signals may be presented on a display as display elements having, for example, a shape, a size, an intensity, and a color. For example, the display elements may include a blue square, red circle, green star, etc. In addition, the display elements may have a variation in a display characteristic, such as a variation in a size, a shape, an intensity, and a color of the display elements. The variation in display characteristic is related to the sensed property of the object. In addition, the sensory signals may include audio tone signals which have a variation in time intervals between successive tone signals. The variation in time intervals is related to the sensed motion of the object.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an apparatus which includes a sensor which senses an attitude or motion of an object, or some derivative thereof, and a sensory converter which converts the sensed motion to corresponding sensory or control signals. In addition, the sensory signals are presented to a user by using, for example, a transmitter and receiver. Thus, the user receives the sensory signals and is able to resolve a conflict between vestibular, ocular, and proprioceptive inputs via the principle of indeterminancy. The sensory signals may be, for example, any one of audio, video, white noise, pink noise, brown noise, popcorn noise, optical signals, audio tones, or any combination thereof, etc.